Refrigerator



, 1,599,891 Sept. 14 1926' W l.;- HILL REFRIGERATOR Filed VMarch 1o,192e m mil Patented Sept'.` 14, 1926.

UNITED ASTATE-s 1,599,891 APaxlzezlar OFFICE.

WILLIAM :ELLIS HILL, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNR 0F SEVENTWENTY-FOURTHS TOIRANK H. BORDEN, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

REFRIGERATOB.,

.Applicauon mea March 1o., 1926. 'serial No. 93,730.

This invention -relates to refrigerators. The `invention is applicablegenerally to the refrigerating art,1 but for purposes of illustrationwill be described and shown as 'applied to a refrigerating show caseordisplay cabinet.

Someof the objects of my invention are: to provide a case of highefficiency; to pro culation through the case; to provide av case inwhich cooled 1air 'streams are caused pass along two sides of a platteror material support; to provide a case in which'removal of one or moretrays carrying materials to be preserved has no appreciable effect uponthe circulation in the case; to provide an 1mproved-circulatory methodin a refrigerating case; to provide a case in which a plurality ofcooled air streams are pro'ectedin `stratas;

and many other objects an advantagesas will be aparent from thefollowingJ description. In carr ing out the invention a case is provided1n which the current ofcooled air 1s divided into a plurality of streamsand circulates in the case.

` The invention is shown4 for purposes of illustration as embodied in arefrigerating show case, and in the accompanying drawings: Fig. 1,represents a vertical section through a s'how case inl accordance withmy invention, Fig. 2` is a similar section through a slightly modifiedform of show case, indicating by long arrows the primary, and by shortarrows, the secondary air streams, and Fig. 3 is a fragmentarydiagrammatic view of a further slight modification of the' invention.

Referring now to Fig. 1, the case comprises bottom wall 10, recessed asat 11, drainedby convention trap drain l2. The case is provided withside or end walls 13, rear wall 14, icing lid 15, sliding doors 16, top17, sight windows 18, supported by the front wall 20.' All of the wallsare insulated in any desired manner, and when so insulated the point ofattack for external heat is the sight windows, through which the heatpasses with comparative ease. It is because the heat is really driventhrough theglass and a certain proportion of it contacts with materialso n display andruins such materials, that all other show cases of thisdescription with which the public is acquainted, so far as known, failin preserving the -materials closest to the front of the case. This islargely due to faulty circulation permitting the formation of dead airpockets in proximity to the front of the tray carrying the displayedmaterials, and which this invention obviates, as ,will be ,more clearlyseen as the description proceeds.

Accessible through the icing lid 15, is the ice or refrigerantsupporting tray or support 21, preferably supported at the rear by legssuch as 22, and upon which ice or a desired refrigerant or ice machinemay be mounted. The tray 21 is perforated so that cooled air may passthrough theltray from .the refrigerant. In the present case, forlllustrative purposes the refrigerant is shown as a block of ice 19,although any equivalents may be used.

Supported on the side Walls or ends 13 1s a guide means 30, shown as asolid baille but which vconceivably7 might be a series of shutters-orsome suci arrangement, so arranged that there is a space or clearancebetween the upper end thereof and the case as at 8, and so that there ispractically av similar space 9 between the bottom and the tray support28, to be later described.

In the preferred form material tray supports are provided extendinglongitudinally of vthel case mounted on the end walls, as for instanceas at 31 at the front ofthe case, and as at 28 toward the rear of thecase. Support 31 is an angle iron, and support .28, comprises a steppedor off-set unit, in which the tray receiving shelf 24 terminates in anupstanding portion 27, which in turn is bent to form the horizontaltread 26 and vertical riser 23 of a diverting device, arranged tosupport the front edge of the ice tray 21, and to deflect or divert acertain portion of the cooled air stream falling through the ice tray,and to' project it in a horizontal plane 'in spaced relation to thebottom wall of the case, just above the plane ofthe shelf portions ofthe material tray supports. It isto be noted that the distance above thetray plane that the diverted or secondary air stream is projected isdetermined by the extent or width of the vertical or upstanding portion27. This width should-be appreciable in order to space the secondary airstream from the primary air stream which falls from the refrigerant 19to the bottom wall of the case, across the bottom to tlie'front wall 20,then part passes upward against the inner face of the sight window for aslight` distance whilethe other part bathes the front portion of thetray, when it curls or curves over toward the space 8 above the guide orbaille 30, over the refrigerant and down again. In its course it willabsorb such heat units as have been transmitted through the glass andthus eliminate any air pocket that might otherwise form toward the frontportion'of the case in proximity to the materials on the tray. Thisaction is facilitated tremendously by the secondary air stream which isprojected from the tread section 26 through the space 9 under the bailleor ide 30 and travels across the case toward1 the front subjecting thematerials on the tray to its influence, then curving or curling upwardlyand back, merging with the primary air stream as it passes over theupper end of the balile 30.

As noted this plurality of circulatory air streams is maintained evenwith the material tray removed, and its action yis of course the 'sainewith a tray in position as they are then physically se arated by abarrier, the tray, which is pre erably solid and will not permit thepassage of air throu h it. With the tray in position it will be o servedthat the bottom thereof is in contact with the primary, air streamkeeping the tray cooled and simultaneously the upper surface o the trayand the materials displayed thereon are in contact with the secondaryair stream.

The case shown in Fig. 2 is practically the same, at least externally,as the A case shown in Fig. 1. However there is a slight change thatmight be noted. It is desirable in some cases to provide a trough inconnection with the diverting means to carry off the melted ice andsimilar matter, and therefore the diverter shown in the figure notedcomprises'a vertical lin 33 curving at the bottom to form the trough orgutter 34, then upwardly 'again to form the projecting edge 3'5, acrosswhich the secondary air stream is drawn. For neatness and an attractiveappearance, shutters 36and 37 on the diverter 33 and bale 38respectively may be applied to shield the contentsof trough 34 andrecess 12 from the eyesv of an observor looking through the window 18.

With this form of diverting means it is perfectly feasible to use tlieshutter 36 and an angle iron, (not shown) to support a tray carrying thematerials for display, yet a simpler device may be used, as shown inFig. 2, This may comprise aperforated or longitudinally corrugatedslatted rest 39, mounted either Adirectly upon the bottom wall 10, orupon short legs (not shown), and upon which the platter may rest.

The'action in Fig. 2, is the same as in the other form of the invention,in which the cold air stream is divided the lower and colder primarystream passing along the bottom, to the front wall under the rest 37,where it curves up, some passing u the front wall and some curving backto AIba the front of the tray in cold air, then up and over the baie,while the secondary air stream is projected horizontally above the restand bathes the materials on the tray with cold air, then it mixes ormerges with the rimary circuit over the baffle.

any applications of the principal involved will occur to those skilledin the refrigerating art, and all such should be considered as withinthe scope of the following claims, except where they may be otherwiselimited,

I claim as my invention 1. A refrigerant oase including a refrigerantsupport, a material support and means for directing cooled air on bothsides of said material support.

2. A refrigerating case including a refrigerant support, a baffleadjacent the support overwhich warmed air passes, and means fordirecting a plurality of cooled streams of air under or beneath saidbale.

2l. A case including a refrigerant support, guiding means adjacent thesupport over the upper portion of which an incoming air stream isarranged to pass, and means diverting a portion of the cooled air streamfrom its course below the support so that' the diverted stream passestoward the opposite end of the case `and then up with the incoming airstream.

4. A case including a refrigerant support, a material support below thelevel of the refrigerant support and spaced therefrom.

and means for directing a layer of cooled air across the upper surfaceof said material support.

5. A case including a refrigerant support, a material ,Support below thelevel of the refrigerant support and having a space beneath it, andmeans for providing a plurality of spaced air streams about saidmaterial support.

6. A case including a refrigerant support, a material sup ort, and meansfor directing a plurality o cooled air streams in the same direction butin spaced planes from the plane of the material support.

7. A show case having a window in one wall, a refrigerant support towardan oppothe site Wall, a primary cooled air stream passing from therefrigerant support to the Wall having the Window, and a secondarycooled air stream passing from the support in spaced relation to theprimary cooled air stream.

8. In a case the combination With a refrigerant support, of guidingmeans adjacent the support, and diverting means beneath the support,said means cooperating to divide the cooled air into a plurality ofstreams circulating in the case.

9. In a show case having a bottom wall, a refrigerant support mounted inthe case adjacent one end of said bottom Wall, a guide means adjacentthe support, and a diverting element terminating in a projecting edgebeneath and spaced from the guide means and arranged to direct a streamof cooled air across the case in substantial parallelism With but abovethe bottom Wall.

ment providing a primary air stream from the support under the materialsupporting means to the front Wall thence over the guiding means to therefrigerant sup-port, and means for maintaining a secondary air streamfrom the refrigerant support above the material supporting means towardthe front wall which mixes with the primary air stream and passes overthe .guiding means to the refrigerant support.

11. In a refrigerator, the combination with a rest for a platter, of arefrigerant, the refrigerator having a channel for the passage of aprimary air stream from the refrigerant on one side of the rest, meansfrom which a secondary Yair stream passes from the refrigerant on theother side of the plane of saidrest.

12. A method/of refrigerating which consists in bathing the bottom of aplatter tray with a stream of cooled air, and simultaneously in bathingthe upper portion of the tray with a stream of cooled air.,

In testimony whereof I ax my signature;

WILLIAM E. HILL.

